


So, are you gay?

by orphan_account



Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon (Anime), Pocket Monsters | Pokemon (Main Video Game Series), Pocket Monsters | Pokemon - All Media Types, Pocket Monsters: X & Y | Pokemon X & Y Versions
Genre: AU, M/M, i seriously dont know how to tag this?????????????????????
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-08-04
Updated: 2015-08-04
Packaged: 2018-04-13 00:06:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,862
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4500066
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"You can't pull a 'no homo' when you're already in too deep."<br/>In which Lysandre and Professor Sycamore meet fatefully at a dance held to fundraise for a new and exciting Mega Evolution project.</p>
            </blockquote>





	So, are you gay?

**Author's Note:**

> This is like pre-game, one-shot trash so I hope it's enjoyable. I also haven't seen the anime so some stuff might be wrong. Idk. Just have fun, man. And please don't forget to review/leave kudos!!!!!

“So, are you gay?”

The question was directed at Augustine Sycamore, who could have given himself whiplash from how hard he turned around to the voice asking. He stumbled a bit, finding himself at the shoulder of a tall, red-haired intruder. No, tall wasn’t quite the word. As if Augustine wasn’t disoriented enough, now he had to look up just to look this punk in the eye.

It was odd, he thought. He had organized this whole night: paid for the rental of Prism Tower, sent out invitations, convinced a cafe to cater the event. Hell, he even decorated the ballroom himself (with only a bit of help from his pokemon). He could place a name to practically every face in the room, but he hadn’t a clue who this was. He already had to drive away a few party-crashers earlier, so maybe this was another one, he thought, with dread.

“Wow, what a polite question.” he said, showing clear sarcasm in his voice.

The redhead looked down, right back at him, looking confused. “Might you suggest a better way for me to ask?”

Augustine grunted, then smiled, insincerely. “Now, is it the hair or what I’m wearing? Or are you just an asshole?” he asked, in mock kindness. Honestly, his so-far-shitty night on top of this clown might just be enough to make him go home.

Surprisingly, the man looked apologetic. He held his hands up and said, rushed, “Oh no, no that’s not what I was implying!” He rubbed the back of his neck now, nervously. “I meant no offense, I promise! I just-- I noticed you turned away all of the girls asking you to dance.”

Annoyance faded into confusion. _What?_ “Yes, I am.” Augustine affirmed, not quite knowing what to say.

Music continued to sing through the ballroom, and dancers brushed past them by the second. Even with all the commotion going on around them, the silence was heavy and so embarrassing Augustine was tempted to make a sour face.

“Who are you?” he continued, giving up any effort to be friendly. The man took a step back, with intentions of leaving the situation. “Sorry, sorry, I shouldn’t have asked, I should go--” he began, but he was cut off as Augustine followed his step.

“No, really. Who invited you?” he asked, his tone serious.

The redhead seemed confused. “What do you mean? I’m catering.”

More silence.

Augustine quickly thought through his means of escape because holy _shit_ this is embarrassing. No escape, he concluded, so instead he tried words. “Well how was I supposed to know!” he almost shouted, his tone causing a few heads to turn. “Why aren’t you serving food?”

The man shook his head, seeming even more confused than before. “I-- I’m Lysandre Fleur-de-lis. I own the Lysandre Cafe.” He pointed over the sea of dancers to the food buffet, and leaned in to speak to Augustine as if he didn’t know. “We’re catering, see?”

Now, Augustine made no effort to hide his embarrassment. He felt the heat rise in his face and he smacked his forehead, looking mortified. “ _SHIT_ ,” he gasped, not knowing whether to apologize and explain himself or wonder why he never even noticed.

Lucky, Lysandre filled the silence first. “Are you alright?” he asked, seeming genuinely concerned. “I’m so sorry again for coming off so rude I had no idea--”

“It’s fine!” Augustine exclaimed, after recollecting himself. “That was my bad I just-- I think I’ve had too much to drink. I had no idea who you were and… fuck this is the worst.” He stepped back and found a metal chair that had been haphazardly shoved against the wall, so he could sit. _What idiot put these chairs against the wall?_ He thought, then frowned. _Oh yeah, fuck, it was me._

Lysandre approached him, carefully, not knowing quite what to say. “Oh no, it’s okay!” he reassured him, bending down slightly to touch his shoulder, stiffly. Should he just leave? Maybe he had already hit the social interaction limit of the day.

After a long moment of silence, Augustine said, “You were right, I’m gay. Why do you care?”

Lysandre laughed, lightly, though he didn’t smile. Smiling didn’t seem to come to him easily. “I was going to ask you to dance, but perhaps now isn’t the time?”

Augustine looked up at once, looking more embarrassed now than ever. “Oh,” he whispered.

Another pause came.

“I should go now,” Lysandre concluded, then stood up straight and turned to leave, but he was stopped, abruptly.

“No, let’s dance,” Augustine said, firmly, and rose from his seat. “Pretend that never happened and you just came up and asked me to dance and I said yes and now we’re dancing.” Without anymore hesitation, he took Lysandre’s hand and pulled him away from the sidelines, onto the ballroom floor. At once they were lost in the crowd.

 _Amazing turnout_ , Augustine couldn’t help himself thinking, even though it was a little too crowded for his comfort. Unfortunately, Lysandre didn’t appear to enjoy the crowd either, but he took position to waltz, placing one hand against Augustine’s, the other--hesitantly--on his waist. And within a beat, they stepped into the rhythm of the dance.

After Augustine figured out what in the world Lysandre was doing with his feet, he eased up his death-grip on his shoulder. Even so, he wouldn’t exactly say he was the greatest dancer. It was hard to take his eyes off his own feet, making sure he wasn’t going to step on Lysandre’s (which were significantly larger).

“Have you been having fun?” Augustine tried to ask, but quickly realized he was addressing the floor and looked up at Lysandre.

Once again, Lysandre chuckled, but failed to smile. Was he mad or something? “Yes it’s been quite a night,” he replied, looking around. “Though I hardly know anyone here besides my employees, so it’s been difficult to make conversation.”

Augustine nodded, though he could not relate: he knew everybody in the building. That is, apparently, besides Lysandre. “It’s been exciting. And the food is great, by the way.” He smiled, genuinely, trying to ease some awkwardness. “I stop by the cafe all the time, it’s one of the best in the city. Which is really saying something, because there are a _lot_ of cafes. Is it hard being successful with so much competition? You’d think that it would be difficult to get some customers because of all of the other options, but your business seems to be doing well. Or maybe yours is well-recommended, or just the best. And the location is great, considering it’s one of the first places that tourists will see when they go to the Prism Tower, non? Do you tend to get a lot of foreigners? Isn’t it odd to think of how far people will travel-- _ow_!”

His tangent was cut off as nails dug into the side of his waist, and Lysandre winced in pain. With horror, Augustine realized he had stepped on his foot, and quickly backed off.

“I am-- oh gosh I’m sorry!” he apologized, feeling awfully silly. “Sorry, I got distracted and I’m not the greatest dancer--”

“It’s okay!” Lysandre laughed, grinning. He repositioned himself, giving Augustine a bit more room for his wandering feet. “I’m flattered by your kind words, but really there’s no reason to butter me up.”

Augustine frowned. “I’m not buttering you up! I really do love it.”

Lysandre shook his head, still smiling. (He does have a beautiful smile Augustine thought, but carefully kept that to himself) “Whatever. Anyway, how do you know the professor? I take it you were here to see the presentation about Mega Evolution?”

Augustine gasped, and pulled away from Lysandre. “Oh God, did I not introduce myself?”

“No, now that I think about it--”

“I’m Augustine Sycamore,” he said, mentally kicking himself for forgetting something as simple as exchanging names.

Now it was Lysandre’s turn to be surprised. “Augustine-- I mean, professor!” Now he had stopped dancing and was moving away from the dance floor, with the professor in pursuit, to avoid getting in the way of the other guests. “I was too late for the presentation, so I… had no idea.”

“My bad, I forgot to introduce myself…” Augustine mumbled, still in disbelief.

“How did it go? Did they all like it?” Lysandre asked. He sounded excited--almost in a giddy way.

The professor shrugged. “It was okay. The dance was just a fundraiser for further research. I only gave the presentation to let everyone know what they’re paying for. We obviously didn’t tell them everything, although I really would have liked to.”

“I’m sorry I missed it!”

“Yeah?”

“Of course!” Lysandre said, as if it were obvious. “I’ve always been a fan of your work. You’ve made far more advances in research than any other Kalosian Pokemon professor. Not to mention, you’re so young, yet you’ve made all of this progress!”

Augustine couldn’t help but smile at his words. “Thank you so much!” He began to say something else, but was interrupted by a large, loud group of people brushing past and stopping to chat right nearby. “Do you want to talk somewhere quieter?!” he asked, over the conversations of other people.

Lysandre nodded, eagerly, and followed the professor through the crowd to find the nearest elevator. Hurriedly, they squeezed through the door, and Augustine pressed the button for the top floor.

“You know, I’m quite into science myself,” Lysandre said, once the door had closed. “The idea that one individual could change the world excites me. I used to study engineering in school, as well as other things like programming. I actually started this project--”

Suddenly, a stop was made on the fourth floor, cutting him off. The double-doors slid open to reveal a young, purple-haired lady in a lab coat. She looked up at Lysandre, then frowned, sternly.

“I’m sorry sir, all party guests must remain on the ground floor--” she began, then noticed the professor beside him.

“Hello, Sina!” he said, cheerily, inviting her into the elevator. “Sina, this is Lysandre, owner of the Lysandre cafe.” He turned to him, then gestured to Sina. “This is Sina, one of my assistants.”

Lysandre nodded, his friendly demeanor quickly washed away.

“So what are you guys up to?” Sina asked, stepping in and pushing the button for the ground floor. She didn’t seem overly thrilled to see Lysandre either.

Augustine, oblivious, replied, “Oh, we just wanted to go somewhere quieter to talk. It’s so noisy downstairs, but there was a wonderful turnout! I’m sure we’ve reached our funds goal already, which is more than I could have ever wanted.”

Sina smiled. “Yes, that’s good. How have you been getting along with the guests?”

“Oh, they’re great,” he lied. “They have loads of questions about Mega Evolution. Everyone is very supportive.”

The elevator came to a stop at the top floor.

“That’s so great!” said Sina as the two men stepped out of the elevator. “Don’t forget to come say goodbye to your guests when you’re done.”

“I certainly will,” Sycamore lied, again.

The doors came to a close and Sina disappeared from sight.

As soon as she did, Lysandre frowned and asked, “Why did you lie to her?”

Augustine sighed and lead the way towards the observation deck, past Clemont’s gym. The top floor was dark and empty besides the lights from outside shining through massive glass windows. Normally, the place would be crowded with challengers and tourists, either exploring the electric-type gym, or looking out over Lumiose city on the deck. Now it was only the two of them, standing side-by-side, looking out into the moonlit sky.

“Sina, she needs motivation to continue working with me,” Augustine said, eventually. “Nobody really cares about Mega Evolution until it can be used by everybody. Trying to create excitement over something that’s only a theory at the moment is… hard.” He shook his head, leaning forward to rest his elbows on the railing in front of the window. “Kids, they need instant gratification. Sina and Dexio--my other assistant--don’t have the patience to work on anything long-term. It’s a slow process, research, and I need them to think they’re doing much more than they actually are.”

Lysandre nodded, grimly. He couldn’t quite empathize, but he knew what Augustine was getting about. “Then what’s your motivation?”

Augustine laughed, almost bitterly. “Determination to actually accomplish something. And I have bills to pay.” After a moment, he added, “And of course I love what I do, and I love pokemon.”

“Well, think on the bright side,” Lysandre said, leaning on the railing as well. “I’m sure your work will pay off sometime soon.”

“Hm. Not likely, but I appreciate the sentiment,” the professor replied, sadly. Suddenly, his demeanor shifted, and he appeared to have shrugged off his disappointment. “Anyway, what was that project you were going to tell me about?”

“Huh? Oh!” Lysandre shifted his position until he was leaning with his back against the railing, then explained, “You see, I have this program in development that allows people to communicate through hologram. It would be like an extension to one’s PSS. I believe it would be fun and productive for long-distance communication.” He laughed, nervously, “If only I had time to develop any hardware.”

“Why not?” asked Augustine.

“I’m too devoted to my business at the moment. I wouldn’t want to risk slacking off on the cafe just to create something that may not even be useful.”

The professor scoffed, “That’s ridiculous. There’s no reason why you shouldn’t pursue your dreams.”

Lysandre looked at him for a long while, then said, flatly, “I like job security.”

“Well, maybe your kids could inherit your restaurant and then you--”

Now Lysandre laughed out loud, but it wasn’t the kind of laugh Augustine had been waiting to hear. It made him feel uneasy. “Sorry, but really, I’m fine just running the cafe. My current circumstances prevent me from doing anything else.”

Augustine sighed, defeated. “Just… don’t give up completely. If the opportunity arises, you should take it. You never know what could happen.”

Without further response, Lysandre rose to his feet and stepped away from the guard rail, instead turning completely to face the professor. “Pardon me for changing the subject,” he began, “But I can’t quite place your accent. You don’t quite sound Kalosian…”

“Actually, I am,” Augustine replied. “I was born here, then moved to Sandgem Town in Sinnoh when I was 9. Then I moved back here when I was 22.”

“Wow, that’s a far move. Why’d you leave?”

Augustine shrugged, “It doesn’t matter.”

 _All right, touchy subject_ , Lysandre thought. In an attempt to steer the conversation away from any off-limit zones, he said, “Anyway, your accent is very interesting.” Then, after receiving a partially skeptical, partially annoyed look from the professor, he added, “I mean, it’s beautiful of course! I didn’t mean to offend you--”

Another look of skepticism came.

 _Shit he’s mad_.

Lysandre felt his face go red, but quickly brushed off his embarrassment and tried to appear casual as he spoke. Even so, he began to feel anxious. “Uh, since you’re so smart, we should… like… work together,” he said, purposely avoiding Augustine’s eyes. “You know, we both love science and I’m interested in learning more about Mega Evolution and--”

“Lysandre,” Augustine suddenly cut him off. He crossed his arms and looked up at the taller man, annoyed. “Are you trying to ask me out?”

Lysandre opened his mouth to deny it, defend himself, anything really, but he couldn’t place words. Wow I’m bad at this. Laughing seemed to be the best option for him, so he did, but when it came out forced and insincere, he knew he blew it already, so he just let his mouth run instead. “What? No, of course not I’m just very interested in your work and I think we should be friends or maybe colleagues?”

Now it was Augustine’s turn to laugh, but he seemed to think it was actually funny. “No, really, you don’t have to deny it I know flirting when I see it. The first thing you asked me about was my sexuality, and then we waltzed. You can’t pull a ‘no homo’ when you’re already in too deep.”

“Yeah, well, you don’t have to make fun of me for it,” said Lysandre, growing frustrated. “A simple ‘no’ would suffice.”

“I never implied I wanted to say no!”

“You haven’t said yes yet!”

“Maybe I’m just thinking about it!”

Lysandre groaned, “Okay how about I just lay out how I feel about you: I think you’re very attractive and charming and even though you aren’t a good dancer at all, you’re incredibly smart and I admire you. And I want to go out with you.”

Augustine nodded, as if he were still contemplating. Then, he broke out into a wide grin. “I’m just teasing you, but thank you for your kind words. And I think you’re very intelligent and a marvelous cook, and… I would like to go out with you as well.”

The following silence was long and heavy. Awkwardly, Augustine shifted, moving his crossed arms behind him to grip the railing he leaned against, to steady himself.

“Is that a good enough answer?” He asked, seeming casual.

Lysandre, after a moment, nodded in agreement. “Yeah, okay.”

More silence.

“Do you want to go downstairs?”

Augustine shook his head, and Lysandre couldn’t help but agree; it was far too loud and busy in the ballroom.

So the silence continued.

“How did you notice I wasn’t dancing with any girls?” Augustine asked, finally.

“Huh? Oh…” Lysandre, nervous, glanced around then explained, “I dunno, I was looking around and I thought you were kinda cute--hey, don’t laugh, I’m being serious. Anyway, I didn’t want to ask to dance if you were straight, so I just waited for a while. And then I asked you.”

Augustine shook his head, smiling. “No, you asked me if I was gay, you didn’t ask me to dance. And I think your logic behind me being gay was pretty off.”

“It’s not like there was any less-awkward way to ask,” Lysandre groaned. “Besides, I was right in the end so why does it matter?”

“Fair enough.” Augustine chuckled, “Thank you, by the way, though maybe ‘cute’ wasn’t the best word choice.”

Lysandre replied, deadpan, “Sorry, I just figured it was too early for ‘sexy’.”

At once, the professor felt his chest tighten, and his face flood with heat. “Ah… well, I think now you’re just inaccurate at this point…” he managed to say.

“I’m serious,” Lysandre replied, darkly, taking a step forward. Now that he had managed to get Augustine off his high horse, he felt much more confident. He smirked, “I’m not so different from all of those pretty ladies you turned down. You and I both know what they were looking to get at the end of the night.”

Augustine was doing all it took to keep his hands from shaking, but even while gripping the railing hard enough to give him blisters, his arms began to tremble. He didn’t feel threatened or intimidated by Lysandre per say, but the whole situation was quite embarrassing and nerve-wracking. “I’m… not interested in that.”

“That’s perfectly understandable,” Lysandre said. “I can’t say I had intentions of bedding you tonight. But don’t deny that you look sexy.”

Augustine glared. “You saying I should dress more modestly, then?”

“God no, I’m saying you should dress like that every day.”

The professor was quiet for a long while. He knew Lysandre meant well, but he still felt self-conscious in his presence. Suddenly the two seemed much closer together than he had noticed earlier. Maybe Lysandre had been coming towards him or he had been pushing himself further away from the wall, but now he could feel the heat coming off the other man’s body and the eyes staring down at him. It was exciting, he thought. He had never been the type to be so open with someone he had only just met. Lysandre didn’t seem like it at first glance, but he was good at talking his way into things.

Speaking of talking, Augustine had only just noticed how long he had been staring at Lysandre’s lips which were, conveniently, very close by. It wouldn’t be that hard, he thought, and found himself leaning in.

Taking the cue, Lysandre finished his thought. All at once, a warm set of lips were against Augustine’s, two strong hands holding the sides of his face. He reciprocated immediately, moving his hands from the guard rail to hold onto Lysandre’s waist. Much to his dismay, however, the kiss was short-lived, as Lysandre pulled away, a look of concern on his face.

“You’re shaking,” he said, quietly. “Are you alright?”

Augustine nodded. “Yeah, sorry, I just get nervous,” he muttered.

“Want me to keep going?”

“Yeah.”

And he did so, moving down to hold Augustine by his waist. He tilted his head, kissing the other man from a deeper angle, pushing him against the guard rail. In response, Augustine gave a weak moan.

The two kissed for a long while, not daring to make any sort of bold move beyond, well, ‘making out’. Instead they savored the taste of each other’s lips and wondered what was next, and how they even got here. It was when Lysandre gave a light squeeze to Augustine’s ass when he pulled away, laughing lightly.

“What was that?” the professor asked, jokingly.

Lysandre put on a face of mock-innocence. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“You know, you’re a bit of a player.”

“No I’m not!”

“You kiss on the first date, first of all--”

“Because you wanted me to!”

Augustine laughed, lightly pushing Lysandre off of him. "I’m kidding, I’m kidding. Here, look…” he glanced at the time on his watch, and frowned, apologetically. “I have to be back at the lab in ten minutes.”

“Then we can kiss for another ten minutes and then you go--”

“No seriously!” Augustine said, though he couldn’t bring himself to be mad. “I’ll tell you what, I’ll come to the cafe tomorrow before work and we can chat.”

Without waiting for an answer, he started off in the direction of the elevator, but he was abruptly cut off when Lysandre grabbed him by the wrist. “What is it?”

“One more,” Lysandre said, plainly, though it was more of a question than a command.

Augustine smiled, then let himself be pulled back into the taller man’s arms for one more _brief_ kiss. Though, it didn’t end up being as brief as he had hoped, as Lysandre’s wandering hands compelled him to stay. It was only when his watch suddenly beeped to indicate the time had gone on to 10:30 that he pulled away.

“ _Shit I’m late_ ,” he whispered, hurriedly backing up, looking quite embarrassed with himself. “I’ll see you tomorrow, I promise. Got it?”

Lysandre gave a small smile. “Tomorrow. I look forward to it, Professor Sycamore.”

And with that Augustine was gone.

“Tomorrow,” Lysandre repeated.


End file.
